Posted on 11/27/2006 7:55:30 AM PST by RGSpincich
-snip-
Dramatic new details of the deadly mayhem include the undercover cop at one point climbing onto the hood of Bell's car - his gun drawn and his police shield around his neck - screaming, "Police! Turn off your car! Let me see your hands!" said sources who talked to some of the cops involved in the shooting.
When Bell then tried to run down the plainclothes officer - twice - the cop began shooting, with some of his 11 bullets piercing the rear window of the man's Nissan Altima, the sources said. -snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
This was not funny, Yet your comment made me laught.
Try reading the article. It's only 4 short pages.
Wow! you don't have to 'hear' anything --- read the ARTICLE.
So what if he had a badge? Anyone could have a badge.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Special-Police-Badge-Star-Texas-Shield_W0QQitemZ190053968465QQihZ009QQcategoryZ929QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It might have been easier to have uniformed police and marked squad cars waiting around the corner. Once these guys made a move, the undercover and marked units could have apprehended them together. I would be a bit concerned if a bunch of guys in jeans and tee shirts jumped in front of my car with guns. I would tend to think it's a carjacking since I drive a decent vehicle.
~ Blue Jays ~
When a person's in control of something that can kill a person, they're "armed". You're right - a car will kill just as surely as a gun...he was armed.
"I think the problem is the fact that the cops were UNDERCOVER cops, dressed in mufti, i.e. dressed like hoodlums. Who can tell if you're being hijacked or not. Traffic stops need to be done by UNIFORMED cops dressed like policemen with their cap and uniform visible to the driver."
Good Point
Like the facts that the punk actually drove his car into an identified cop, and you are condemming the cops?
I'm not prejudiced, you are. And worse, you are ignoring undisputed fact while telling me to examnine facts. That's not just prejudiced, that's stupid and intellectually dishonest.
That would require them to open their eyes during the engagement. I don't believe that's taught in the six hours or whatever of gun training that the NYPD gives its troopies.
A few years ago they shot a haitian guy when they saw him reach for something (turned out to be the walled with the ID they'd demanded of him). Three cops, fifty-something rounds fired. (One cop only fired a single shot). Like this incident, most of the rounds went any which way.
You know, if some dude is trying to run you over with a vehicle, it's pretty trivial to get out of his way and get his license number.
I'm glad to know that strip bars, like donut shops, are assured of police protection 24/7. No doubt they will say they were staking it out. Uh-huh.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Racial arsonists.
>>>****Wow! I didn't hear that. That is overkill for sure! You shoot to incapacitate, not mutilate.****
Wow! you don't have to 'hear' anything --- read the ARTICLE.>>>
Sorry, must have missed that.
As I understand the NY Post article, there was one undercover cop initially, who showed his badge and ordered the driver to turn off the car and those inside the car to show their hands. There was no compliance and the driver floored the car toward the undercover cop. Then back-up arrived. Whether those back-up officers were in or out of uniform is not stated in the article. At least, not as far as I can tell.
I'm sure it did seem like a good choice at the moment. But it's not the cop's fault the guy was a moron.
According to the sources, two undercovers were at the strip joint as part of the NYPD's new Club Enforcement Initiative. The program was started after the July slaying of 18-year-old Jennifer Moore of New Jersey, who partied at a New York club before being abducted, raped and killed in a Weehawken, N.J., hotel.
The undercovers, who usually worked in Manhattan, were on the last night of their two-month Queens detail to try to nail the Kalua and other clubs on such violations as drugs and underage prostitution.
Inside the club, one of the plainclothes cops sat next to a woman he thought was a hooker and might proposition him, the sources said.
Suddenly, a burly man approached them and told the woman that he had heard she had gotten into a fight with a group of guys earlier in the club. It was unclear what it was over.
The man said, "'Don't worry, baby, I got you covered,' and he takes her hand, and he rubs it across [the gun in] his waistband," a source said. "Then he tells her, 'That's what I'm here for.'"
It's unclear how the man smuggled his weapon past the metal detector outside the club. He likely was a regular who knew the bouncer at the door and may have worked there part time, helping with security, the sources said.
The undercover then went outside the club and radioed his backup to tell them there was a man inside with a gun. It was around 3:30 a.m.
While the undercover was outside, the suspect came out along with the girl and others, since it was around closing time.
The undercover watched as an argument erupted between Bell's group, which included three male pals and the beefy man with the gun, and four other men — with the woman in the middle of them, the sources said.
The woman was overheard saying to the men arguing with Bell's pals, "I'm not doing you all. I'll do one or two, but not all," according to the sources.
Around the same time, the undercover said he heard Bell's friend Joseph Guzman tell his buddies, "Yo, get my gun! Get my gun! Let's get my gun from the car! Yeah, we're gonna f- - - him up!" the sources said.
The undercover, thinking there was about to be a drive-by shooting in front of the club involving Bell's group, followed Guzman, Bell and two others to their car.
"It's getting hot! Something's going to happen! Something's going down!" the undercover radioed to his backup.
He hurried to the front of Bell's Altima, which was parked on the side of a nearby street, and jumped in front of it.
That's when the undercover put his right leg up on the hood of the Altima and began screaming that he was a cop, the sources said.
The cop was leaning over the hood of the car to try to see the hands of the people inside and make sure they didn't have any guns, they said. But Bell floored the gas pedal and headed for the cop, the sources said, striking him and badly cutting his knee.
One of the Altima's passengers — who possibly had a gun — jumped out of the back of the car, the sources said.
Around the same time, an unmarked Toyota Camry driven by a plainclothes police lieutenant and another cop behind him pulled up, but overshot Bell's car. A police van with an officer and the narcotics detective then managed to block Bell's car in.
Bell's Altima first struck the police van in the driver's desperate bid to escape, then backed up and struck the roll-down metal doors of a commercial building behind him. He then revved his car again toward the undercover — which prompted the cop to scream, "He's got a gun!" and start firing, according to the sources, with the bullets passing through Bell's car.
"The undercover thought they had more than one gun. He thought they would do anything to get away. He was yelling, 'Let me see your hands!'" one source said.
The other cops, thinking they were under attack, started firing at the car, too.
At one point, the detective thought his gun had jammed and so reloaded his magazine and emptied the clip again at the car, firing 31 bullets.
Bell was killed, Guzman critically injured, and a third friend, Trent Benefield, was shot. They are expected to live.
Benefield later told a friend from his hospital bed that he and his buddies didn't know the undercovers were cops.
He told investigators, "I got into the car, and there was all this shooting."
It was unclear when the other four men who were originally fighting with Bell and his pals fled the scene. They were spotted leaving in a black SUV.
Bell had been arrested three times in the past: twice for drugs and one on a gun rap in a case that was sealed. Guzman has been busted nine times, including for armed robbery. He spent two stretches in state prison in the '90s. Benefield has a sealed record as a juvenile for gun possession and robbery.
Some marijuana was later found near the Altima, and investigators believe that it may have been tossed out by the group before the gunfire. Two bullet casings also were recovered from the Altima, although cops said they do not believe they were from a police gun.
The shooting of Bell, who was black, has ignited racial tensions in the city — even though the cops involved included two blacks, a Hispanic and two whites.
The five cops who fired shots were put on administrative duty. Commissioner Kelly said it was the first time that any of the officers were involved in a shooting.
Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said the cops were justified in firing off a total of 50 bullets at unarmed men because Bell was using his car as a lethal weapon.
"Once the threat ended, so did the shooting."
A source told The Post: "They [the cops] feel completely sad about what happened. They made a decision, and they're going to live with it."
On Sunday, the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care said it is issuing a vote of no confidence in Kelly. It also wants the removal of the Organized Crime Control Bureau chief, Anthony Izzo, who it says created the undercover unit involved in the incident.
Browne said Sunday, "We are continuing to look for additional witnesses to shed light on the incident and assisting the district attorney's office with its investigation."
Community leaders are planning a Dec. 6 rally at police headquarters.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232079,00.html
That might apply to a civilian, but not to a cop trying to detain a suspect -- oops, I should have said, a felon who just tried to run over an identified police officer.
The rules for domicile entry and search are different than for public property detainment and search, so it is understandable that it is confusing.
In this instance, the police (if truthful) had immediate evidence of intent to commit a violent criminal act (obtained without entrapment or coercion). Therefore, they had probable cause for detainment, search and arrest. It is doubtful that there was time to assemble uniformed officers and the evidence required and authorized action. The incident went badly and the police had probable cause to believe that their lives were in danger from the seriousness of the previous evidence.
If Bell and his group had not been discussing and planning the shooting of a person the police would have ignored the whole group.
They all had records. It won't stop the race hustlers from acting like they're angels.
1. Lying by police is not so rare that the possibility should not be considered.
2. Criminal thugs who had served jail time might want to avoid going back and therefore would be likely to cooperate, especially since it does not appear that they were fleeing from a crime scene.
3. I was justing pointing out that there is more than one possible interpretation for the actions of the men in the car. What actually happened will hopefully be uncovered by an unbiased investigation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.